Seemingly neutral mechanical communication introduced a modern political metaphysics

Evidence

Innis’s attachment to the oral tradition finally, then, had a modern purpose: to demonstrate that the belief that the growth of mechanical communication necessarily expanded freedom and knowledge was both simplistic and mislead- ing. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 650 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Positive science was anchored in a notion of truth independent of politics arrived at by open communication and in the doctrine of natural rights. Hence it provided one means of withstanding the totalitarian temptation. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 425 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Scientific-technological ordering is inherently political — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 618; Communication is never neutral but embeds constitutive historical power relations — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 996; Modern writing’s mechanical clarity produced an unproblematic mechanical political authority (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Modern writing’s mechanical clarity produced an unproblematic mechanical political authority #corroborates (0.93)
• Mechanical communication growth did not necessarily expand freedom and knowledge #complicates (0.80) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 650
• Positive science supplied a model of uncoerced communication supporting democracy #complicates (0.78) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 425
• Over-theorizing power as textuality can empty it of real political meaning #complicates (0.76) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 258